The Home Based Business Club

A knowledge sharing platform for the existing as well as the "soon-to-be" home based business entrepreneurs

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Why even consider a Home-Based Business?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that out of 100 people that start working at the age of 25, by the age of 65...

1 is wealthy 4 have enough money to retire 63 depend on Social Security or charity 29 are deceased

What's shocking about these statistics is ...95% of people, age 65 and over cannot afford to retire ...many will be forced to work until they die!! What Happened to Safety and Security? That's why many of us no longer put our trust and faith in 'Big Business.'

In J. Paul Getty's book 'How To Get Rich,' his first rule for success is, 'You must be in business for yourself. You will never get rich working for someone else.'

This may be one reason why, according to Home Incorporated, every 10 seconds in the USA someone starts a home business. Tens of thousands of people are waking up to the fact that there is a better way to make a living.

Friday, October 13, 2006

Unlock Your True Potential

Here's another excerpt of an excellent article entitled "Unlocking Your Entrepreneurial Spirit" featured in "Success from Home" magazine written by Todd Eliason and Martha Belden:

If you are serious about starting your own business, the most important thing you need to do first is simply take action. If you don't know what kind of business to start, there are several resources you can tap into to give you some ideas. Here's a quick checklist to set you on your way.

1. Do Your Research

Once you have decided that you want to experience the rewards of small business success, your job is to explore every single detail of the business. Leave nothing to chance; investigate before you step; talk to lots of other people and get lots of input. Your job is to minimize, reduce and eliminate risk wherever possible in the pursuit of profit so that the profits are real and the losses are minimal or non-existent.

2. What Are You Passionate About?

Passion is the critical factor in determining business success. Many people start businesses selling products that they particularly like using themselves. Other people start businesses because they are passionate about the technology or the science involved. Some people start businesses based on their hobbies or other interests. Look around you at the parts of your life that you enjoy the most. Think about the products and services that you have the strongest feelings about.

3. Start Small and Grow As You Go

Whatever your motivations, if you've ever thought of starting your own business, you should just get on with it, right now. However, do not quit your day job! Well, at least not yet. You'll need a steady flow of income coming in while you're getting your new business off the ground.

Start working out of your house, offering a product or service part time, in the evenings and on the weekends. This will help you get a taste for what being an entrepreneur is all about. And when you start earning some money, keep some aside for your business. It will be very tempting in the beginning to spend all of the money on other priorities. By reinvesting some of it back into your business, it will help offset some of the operational costs and help you grow your business faster. Repeat this process of putting money aside as your business grows.

4. Stay Focused On Your Dream

There will be many ups and downs no matter what business you decide to start. It's part of the "rite of passage" of becoming an entrepreneur - taking the good with the bad. And there will be days when nothing goes right and you'll start to debate whether you should pack it in. This is the time where you'll need to work even harder. Some of the most successful companies had to go through years of failure before they got it right. You will have to go through a similar process to see what works for you. Like these business trailblazers, you will have days full of challenges and failure. But keep in mind, they are your challenges and failures, not your employer's. It's how you deal with failure that will determine your ultimate success.

It's Time

The human spirit was never intended to be boxed in. But if you look around you, that cubicle you're in is doing just that. A cubicle is more than just a "small-portioned space" as the dictionary defines it; it's a barrier of sorts - blocking the view of your true potential. Many people have escaped these barriers and are choosing their own destiny. And with a little courage, faith and perseverance, you too can unlock your potential by starting a business that will allow you to enjoy life's many activities any day of the week - even Tuesdays.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Three Reasons Why Business Ownership is on the Rise

Here's an excerpt of an excellent article entitled "Unlocking Your Entrepreneurial Spirit" featured in "Success from Home" magazine written by Todd Eliason and Martha Belden:

You see them everyday on your way to your 8-to-5 job. People involved in activities they only have time for after work or on the weekends; a lady walking her dog; a couple out for a light jog; a family hitching up a boat to theri SUV for a day on the lake. Bubconsciously you ask yourself, "What do these people do for a living? It's Tuesday morning for crying out loud! Shouldn't they be on their way to work like me?" More and more people are finally realizing there is a better way to make a living - by starting their own home-based business. These individuals are breaking the rules that corporate America has set for decades: get up, go to work from 8 to 5, come home; go to bed; then repeat this process every weekday.

These "rules" have been ingrained into our culture for decades and they are major roadblocks that discourage people from going out on their own. In Robert Kiyosaki's book Rich Dad, Poor Dad he states the primary reason why many people seek job security is because they are taught to seek it, at home and at school. "Our educational system focuses on preparing today's youth to get good jobs by developing skills. Schools focus on teaching people to work for money, not how to harness money's power."

And it's not just the schools that have preached this doctrine. A majority of people have grown up with the mentality that you go to school, get a secure job and work your way up the corporate ladder. This is the way it worked for a majority of families in America. Any divergence to this plan was met with severe opposition and disappointment from parents, grandparents, siblings and peers. However, more and more people are debunking this long-held tradition by becoming successful on their own. Yes, the times "they are changin'."

What is causing this monumental cultural shift to working for oneself? How has this entrepreneurial surge become so prevalent? There are three factors that are changing the landscape of how people make a living in the 21st century.

1. No Job Is Secure

The days of staying with one company for your entire career (like your father did) are over. In these days of frequent layoffs and downsizing, even state and government jobs no longer enjoy this "secure" status. Budget constraints due to a lack of consistent tax revenue coming in (the money that goes to pay for these jobs) have forced many of these people to consider other job opportunities.

2. Technology

The computer and the advent of the Internet has allowed small business owners to expand their reach for customers from a local business, limited to a certain geographic area, to a global enterprise almost overnight. The way we communicate today has little to do with where your office is located - millions start their own businesses right out of their homes. Even employers are seeing the benefits of having employees work out of their homes.

3. A desire to Take Control of One's Future

For Most middle-income Americans, living paycheck-to-paycheck has simply become a way of life. In Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki talks about the long-term effects of this kind of lifestyle. "Financial struggle is often directly the result of people working all of their life for someone else. Many people will have nothing at the end of their working days." A new generation of entrepreneurial-minded people is reversing this once inevitable subsistence by starting their own businesses. They are creating a better life for themselves and their families by taking control of their income.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

The Ultimate Reason to Become a Millionaire

Okay. This is the memorable first post of this blog. Below is an article by the author of the best-selling book "Conversations with Millionaires", Mike Litman, which is definitely worth your while reading. This is one of the concepts that has truely gave me a sense of purpose in striving for success. Hope you enjoy it - HIRO

Why should you strive for financial success?

For the money you will receive? For the attention you might garner? What is your reason?

I would like to suggest another reason for you to consider. Recently, I was sitting down with multi-millionaire Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins' original mentor, and he told me what he feels is the best reason to become a millionaire.

He said. 'Set a goal to become a millionaire for what it makes of you to achieve it.'

He went on to tell me about his own mentor.

'Mr. Schoaff had an interesting way of teaching it. When I was 25 years old he said, 'I suggest, Jim, that you set a goal to become a millionaire.' I was all intrigued by that. You know, it's got a nice ring to it--millionaire.'

Then Mr. Shoaff said, 'Here's why.'

'I thought to myself, 'gosh, he doesn't need to teach me why. Wouldn't it be great to have a million dollars?'

Shoaff said, 'No. Then you'll never acquire it. Instead, set a goal to become a millionaire for what it makes of you to achieve it.'

'Do it for the skills you have to learn and the person you have to become. Do it for what you'll end up knowing about the marketplace. What you'll learn about the management of time and working with people.

Do it for the ability of discovering how to keep your ego in check--for what you have to learn about being benevolent. Being kind as well as being strong. What youhave to learn about society and business and government and taxes and becoming an accomplished person to reach the status of millionaire.'

'All that you have learned and all that you've become to reach the status of millionaire is what's valuable. Not the million dollars.'

Jim Rohn told me a lot of amazing things in our time together. But, after all of the millionaires I've had the pleasure of interviewing, this lesson really stands out as advice we should all follow.

You need to ask yourself: What kind of communication skills do I need to develop in order to become a millionaire?

Then begin working on them.

Ask yourself: How must I think in order to become a millionaire? Then begin thinking that way.

Ask yourself: What kind of people do I need to associate with so I can achieve my goals faster?

Then strive to become a person those people will want to be around.

None of us can afford to underestimate the value and importance of this reason to become a millionaire.

In other words, the greatest value you'll receive by becoming a millionaire is the person you have to become to make it in the first place. That is the greatest reward of your journey to success.

In fact, Jim Rohn wasn't the only millionaire who helped me to realize the power of this lesson. A couple of years ago, Chicken Soup for the Soul co-author, Jack Canfield gave me the same lesson when I sat down with him.

Jack said, 'It doesn't make a lot of difference to become a millionaire. I've done that many times over and I can tell you that it's nice to have a house and a car that doesn't fall apart and all that.'

'But, what's more important is who did I have to become in order to become a millionaire?'

'I had to learn how to overcome my fears. I had to learn how to talk in front of groups. I had to learn how to plan a speech. I had to learn how to ask people I was initially afraid of to loan me money, etc.'

'All of that was scary. But, when I did it and survived it, I was no longer afraid to do it in the future. Now you can take away my house, my money, my car and everything, and it wouldn't matter. I know how to create more of those things because of who I've become, NOT what I possess.'

What these millionaires taught me is priceless.

The point is you must go after your goals and dreams with a burning desire because you'll begin to see a transformation in yourself. A greater self-confidence and belief in yourself will be the first of many rewards.